Federal Government have been advised, to assent to the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill in Nigeria, which was passed by the National Assembly four years ago.
The Program Officer Digital Rights, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Malam Ali Sabo made the call during a press briefing in Kano.
According to him, if assented the bill would pave way for more developments by uplifting the standards of Nigeria’s digital space to international standards, as well as strengthening the citizens rights on the internet.
The program officer hinted that, the bill would greatly assist in identifying owners of personal data, through encouraging the stipulation of due process that should be followed, before access is granted to government agencies and others to personal data of citizens.
“Section 37 of the Nigerian constitution as amended provides that the privacy of citizens and their correspondences are sacrosanct and must be protected “
Malam Ali Sabo, identified some of the major violations of citizens digital rights in the country which includes, legislative process introduced at the national assembly to control the way and how citizens access and use social media , internet shut down in some parts of the country and Twitter suspension for six months, among others.
He stressed that, the digital rights and freedom bill passed by the national assembly, is characterized by loopholes and lack wider consultations especially with non-state actors ,by not properly engaging and assigning responsibilities to the CSO’s in the implementation of the bill.
“The bill would make provisions for clear identification of new digital terms and protect against hate speech”
While calling on the National Assembly to update and ensure the bill is all inclusive, he charged CSOs to collaborate and work together for an aggressive advocacy to ensure the bill gets assented.
KHADIJAH ALIYU
